Earlier this week, Square Enix had a playable Alpha version of Final Fantasy XIV at the Gamescom. This is the first game play footage to be released to the open public! Are you brimming with excitement or wallowing in disappointment? Maybe you're reserving judgment for more footage.

NCsoft's latest and highly anticipated MMORPG, Aion: The Tower of Eternity, is due to hit store shelves next month. Aion's graphics are, without a doubt, very impressive. Will FFXIV's graphics measure up in new wave of visually stunning games?

With all this emphasis on more solo content, will activities that require a team take a back seat? While it's certainly boring to log in just to wait forever to get into a group that may never form, why bother paying to play an online game, if you're just going to play alone? Here's to hoping for a balance between the two.